12

Gareth had left home when he was 16. He had finished high school in two years and by some twist of fate he won a lottery the day he graduated. After a brief moment of overwhelmed shock, Gareth came to understand that he had won a car and not the millions-for-life main prize. But it was a rather nice car.

Being a non-driver at the time, Gareth immediately sold the car to a neighbor and took the money to the bank. Almost a month to the day later he lent $1000 to his friends Lenny and Leon. L&L were software nerds and they’d just launched a new mobile game and needed some ready cash to get it going. Gareth was more than pleased to help out; he liked games.

A month after that Bunny Bonanza was featured on a national syndicated show and L&L found themselves rolling in more ready cash than they could dream of. So they gave Gareth a return on his investment: $100,000. A month or so after that Gareth moved out and into an apartment. He had decided it was time to start his life.

So September found Gareth moving furniture and his odd collection of electronics up the one flight to his apartment. He’d picked up a lot of his parents’ castoffs and more than a few new toys. But all in all he was still pretty flush and stoked to try out the world from an adult’s point of view.

It was pretty boring.